Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
by SaulaLove
Summary: Jake is in too deep, and he can't go back now. But is a little nagging feeling keeping him anchored to the lab, and to Grace. I'm pretty sure this is gonna end up being Jake/Grace.
1. Chapter 1

The light that sputtered in between dark, solid clouds in the sky tinted with purple and blue seemed as dank and heavy as the pain in Jake Sully's heart as he wheeled himself away from the machine where his human body had spent the last twelve hours. Although in his human body, he still felt the pulse of his Avatar, the irresistible pull back to the iridescent world of Pandora. He wanted to go back to his village, where Neytiri was sleeping peacefully in anticipation of his Omaticaya "bar mitzvah" of some sort. Before landing on the military base 2 months ago, he had had no reason to live, no one to live for. The look in Neytiri's eyes as they navigated through the Na'vi world together was all that he had to go on. As time passed, he found himself struggling to pull away from the Omaticaya, finding it hard to justify staying in the lab with Grace and Norm when everything he had come to love was still here. Norm approached Jake, not noticing that he was off in his own little world. "Jake? About time to do a video log, you think? Grace is getting a little nervous, you aren't documenting any of your progress." He said hesitantly, placing a hand on Jake's shoulder. "Grace is a scientist. She documents everything." Norm's voice was tinged with frustration. "That's what we're here to do, Jake! To document, and learn, and progress. And that's why we sent you in. You spend all your time in there, don't eat, don't sleep. No video logs. Not even a diary. What the hell is going on in there you don't want us to know about?" Grace walked into the lab at that moment, recalibrating a few machines as she walked up behind the men. She slowed to a crawl and stopped, leaning against a machine and smoking her cigarette while she listened to them converse. "Norm, I'm fine. I hate video logs, I feel weird talking to no one into a stupid little camera. That's all. Pandora is fascinating. I love it, I love the people, it's crazy. I'm in love, that's all." Jake smirked, knowing at least his last sentence had been the truth. Norm looked at him uneasily. "We're just worried about you, Jake. Grace-" "Grace what?" She moved from her stance at the machine and positioned herself between the two men. "I was mentioning to Grace that you were concerned. I just thought maybe I could-" Grace ashed her cigarette, took a drag, and tilted her head, looking at Norm with an oddly introspective look on her face. "Norm, I need a moment with Jake. Alone, if you would do me the honor." Her sarcasm was palpable, and Jake winced at Norm's hurt expression. He grabbed the Na'vi book off the shelf behind Jake and shuffled away to re-read the chapters with Trudy. Things were going well for them.

Grace sighed and took a seat next to Jake. "You haven't eaten in days. Slept properly. Showered. Not even moved from that damned machine." Jake scowled. "Don't nag me about the video logs. I will lose my shit." Grace chuckled at the expression, a rare beautiful smile gracing her lips. "I'm not on your ass for this, even though the RDA is on MY ass about you. Leave 'em, don't bother, I don't give a damn. But you need to keep yourself here, and alive, and with us. Go to the village and cure cancer, move a mountain, but don't forget that you are human. First." Jake shook his head and moved a hand to his lap. "It's not enough. It will never be enough. I have to keep moving, become one of them-" Grace stood up sharply, twisting around to face him with fury in her eyes. "NO! YOU'RE NOT ENOUGH, JAKE. You will never be enough." Norm dropped the book in front of him, as Trudy stared at Grace with wide eyes. Jake was not surprised at her outburst. "I always knew I hit a nerve, Doc. Tell me, what did you screw up? Why did they banish you? Why are you so determined for me to keep my distance? Who hurt you?" Grace's hands shook. She dropped her cigarette, unaware of the fact that it still burned at her feet. Norm quickly extinguished it and helped a pale Doctor Augustine to her seat. Her hand flew to her mouth, covering it in horror at the memories of her broken life.

Grace had been in the village for almost a year. During that time she had taught the native Na'vi, until she received permission to commission a school. Every day, the teenage children of the warriors took off from the fighting, training, and learning of traditional Omaticaya to learn English and basic Earthly skills. Grace was sitting at her desk, lost in thought developing the next lesson. Suddenly, a teenage Neytiri stumbled into the room, her superior balance and determination cowed by fear. "Grace! The Sky People, they have landed their ship and are massacring the school!" Grace shot up from her seat, pulling the remaining students who were approaching her for protection to the corner of the room. Some began to draw bows, but Grace stopped them. She spoke in a calm, collected voice as she prepared to quite possibly visit her own destruction. "Stay here. I can handle the Sky People, by myself. Don't come after me, and if they advance, draw your bows." Neytiri corralled the weaker, more fearful children behind herself and the other warriors. "Yes, Doctor Grace."

Grace stormed out of the school, slamming the door back as far as it will go before sprinting at breakneck speed to the bodies of her fallen disciples. She mourned a moment for them, but focused on taking out Quaritch. Her avatar bounded to the ship, tore the door apart in haste to get to Quaritch. She pushed past the soldiers that tried to hold her back, and found herself in front of Quaritch, where she trapped him underneath her strong Avatar arms and moved her face to inches from his. "What the FUCK do you think you're doing? I get that you want whatever you're here for, I do, but you PROMISED me NO murders. Those were children, innocent children, you ignorant prick!" She screamed at him, ripping him out of his seat. "Do you see that? Those are dead bodies, of innocent Omaticaya that haven't done a single thing to you. Do you have some kind of death wish? You just started a revolutionary war!" Quaritch stared her down, not at all showing fear but inside afraid of her Avatar strength. "I didn't promise a damn thing." He muttered. Soldiers took advantage of her distraction to pull Parker from her and begin to restrain Grace. "You murderer!" she screeched at him. Her avatar was removed, and Grace woke as her human self, gasping for air and lighting a cigarette. She took off towards Parker Selfridge, the only one who had any hope of stopping the genocide.

Grace snapped out of the memory, as she concluded the story. Jake looked angry, but it was about to be misplaced. "Are you kidding me! Parker destroys a whole school, and you still got yourself involved with him?" Grace looked shocked. "He didn't destroy the school, were you even listening? It was Quaritch. And what do you mean, got myself involved with him?" Her cover was barely veiled skin deep. "Come on Grace, you know someone ordered this to happen. And don't play dumb, we all know you and Parker have been sleeping around since you began your 'research' and that's the only reason I'm still in the village on a daily basis." Grace had no idea how to respond. "How much money is it costing Earth to sustain the machine I'm spending all of my time in? Millions, millions they wouldn't have if it wasn't for you fucking Parker into thinking he has to support your project." The words stung Grace's heart, even as she knew they were true. She had to retaliate, it hurt too much to hear the truth. "You aren't exactly an angel either Jake, you have a few secrets of your own. Before you fell in love with the subject you were sent to get them to trust you, so you could force them out of their home and give us what they have. You were in it with Quaritch as much as I am with Parker, and don't deny it." Jake was dumbfounded at her outburst, asking, "How do you know-" Grace looked at him bitterly and threw up her hands. "How do you think I know? He pulled the same shit on me as soon as I stepped off the ship. He explained it all to me. He just realized it was a waste of his time and mine." Grace lit up a second cigarette and threw her hand out, gesturing towards him with a thin trail of smoke wafting in his direction. "This isn't helping. Destroying your last link to us, the only ones who aren't hell bent on destroying the girl you love and her whole village of innocent people."

She lowered her voice. "I know you need to be there. I understand the physical attraction to the terrain, the mental attraction to the one place you fit in more than anything. I remember when I first came out here, when I first integrated myself into the clan. There was nothing I wouldn't do to spend just one more hour, and I didn't have someone like me to stop me. I could stay forever and a day if I wanted, and I developed them too much. Now look what happened. You have to be careful, it isn't just your happiness at stake here. There are Pandorian lives depending on you, Jake." Grace seemed to recover some of her strength. She stood up and swiveled without a sign of shake or a tilt, and stalked off. "I'm going to visit Parker. I'll see you all in the morning, 0600 sharp. Get some sleep, Marine. " Jake shook his head and looked down.


	2. Chapter 2

Earlier in the morning, Grace had stumbled out of Parker's room, or more specifically his bed. It was easier this way, for them to spend the least amount of time together and in public. God knows that it was hard enough for her not to want to kill him, with all his talk of unobtainium in the forest. One of Parker's blue shirts was hanging off of her thin frame, a result of her not giving a damn about food anymore. It was getting difficult again, to try to disassociate herself. When she noticed Jake having the same problems she went through almost 10 years ago, it all came rushing back. Not only her problems with coming back to her human body, but the entire complex issue of Parker Selfridge. It hadn't always been this way.

At one time, Parker was only the junior manager of the "Pandora Project" or whatever they were calling it when they were sending us out to sink or swim in a new environment. At that same time, I was only just a scientist. However, I had an advantage that set me apart from some of the rest: I had been the first student to minor in Pandorian studies at my university, the first to graduate with a PHD in xenobiology. We were no closer to each other than any other two people in the crowded, busy base. There was a time that Parker had a soul, and he used it to get me out of a sticky situation with a superior. True to my fiery spirit, which matched my hair as Parker teasingly pointed out, I had disobeyed the superiors and in fact a basic survival law: I had gone out to survey the forest by myself. It wasn't as if I hadn't done this every day since I began working with my Avatar, but today was a special lab tour conducted for the managers of the project, including Parker. He had been ahead of the group, and managed to cut the link and pull me from the machine before they caught up to him. And by pull, I mean literally use his hands. Needless to say, I was not pleased. All I wanted was to go back to my studies and my Avatar, which was passed out like an alcoholic on a Friday night under a tree somewhere. Looking back, I'm grateful. He kept my Avatar privileges safe. They would have been taken from me if he hadn't, once again I emphasize, ripped me from the machine. A struggling, disoriented me and Parker ended up in the supply closet by the linking machines. Me being me, I asked him point blank what I wanted to know.

"Selfridge, what the hell am I doing here. I was in the middle of a study, my Avatar is out there somewhere unresponsive, anything could annihilate it in minutes! Do you even know how expensive those are?" Parker smirked. I had found this irritating at the time, but I don't mind it anymore. It's almost cute…

Unlike the look she was getting now, from Jake and Norm as they head back to their linking machines. They aren't stupid (well Norm isn't) so they must have realized what was going on.

"Negotiations." Grace smiled weakly and turned around. Norm looked lost, while Jake was red-faced and trying not to crack up laughing.

"I still…. Cannot believe…. You and Parker….HA!" She felt something just then, she knows she did. Was it jealousy? Is she jealous that Jake isn't more upset over her and Parker having our sleepovers?

Yeah. That's entirely plausible, with Grace's constant mothering of him. He most likely thinks of her as the mother he never gave a damn about, the one who lectures and nags him into doing the right thing while he forges his own adventures out there with Neytiri. She was feeling a weird mix of emotions, and it wasn't helping that she was half naked in the middle of the lab. Grace always trusted her instincts, and her first instinct was to get away.


	3. Chapter 3

Parker had called Grace into his office, and there she was, using her precious time for him. For some reason he wouldn't stop twirling the damn unobtainium between his fingers, and it was really pissing her off. He spoke up in a voice meant to be strong, but Grace could hear the shaking tone.

"We need to go in, Grace. We don't have any more time. By the time we get the bulldozers started, and the military positioned, we'll have already given you an extra two weeks at least-" Grace had to cut him off.

"Are you serious? We've put in so much time, so much effort, given up all sorts of study and sample collection we were SENT here to do to be your damn diplomats. And now you're saying we don't have a chance to finish the job?"

Parker began to look uncomfortable and vulnerable. "It's nothing against you, Grace. We just don't have the time in our schedule. I'm getting so much pressure from everyone, and I don't know what to do. I can't just make decisions, I need to answer for them."

Grace was getting more and more angry by the second. "Pressure? Pressure? You think you guys are under pressure? The earth is deteriorating. The air, the resources, the wildlife. It's being put on me to find a solution, whether that's what they want to tell me or not. They want me to save us, and I have to do this single-handedly. That's pressure." Parker stood up. He didn't scare Grace.

"Well, I'm supporting the economy as much as you're supporting their lives. It's not easy, I know, but this is how it has to be." Grace just looked at him.

"You coward. You insane, ass-backwards, unimaginable bastard." (A/N: Did you get what I did here? Hehehe I love it.) Grace took the putter he was so in love with and smashed it through the glass separating his office from the outer office. There was an uproar of chatter, and all the techs remembered seeing was Grace stalking away, screaming at Parker that it was a mistake and everything was over.

She finally reached the lab. As she sat a few machines away from Norm and Jake headed into their Avatars, pretending to be engrossed in samples, Grace's memory took over. She could remember the first time she met Jake, and how badly that had gone. Curiously, she had turned to Parker after the meeting. What was it that he was going to do for her? Nothing.

Grace looked at Jake angrily, although she could admit there was no reason to blame the poor cripple.

" Yeah, yeah, I know who you are, and I don't need you. I need your brother. You know - the PhD who trained three years for this mission." Jake was fed up with being the second choice.

"He's dead. I know it's a big inconvenience to everyone." The man probably had no real experience with anything that would be useful to her.

"How much lab training have you had? Ever run a gas chromatograph? Any actual lab work at all? " She asked. Jake didn't even know what a gas chromatograph was.** "**No. High school chemistry. But I ditched." Grace turns to Max to complain.

"You see? You see? They're pissing on us without even the courtesy of calling it rain. I'm going to Selfridge. This is such bullshit- "

Grace stormed into Parker's office, slamming the door behind her. He was playing with that damn putter, the one she had sent for him as a gift, while they were playing their little games. "Parker, I used to think it was benign neglect, but now I see you're intentionally screwing us." She said, moving to stand next to the stupid mug he was putting balls into.

Parker looked distracted, looking over his shoulder to realize that she wasn't there anymore. "Grace. You know I enjoy our little talks."

She kicked the mug out of his way, looking more and more irritated by his stupidity. The fact that they were sleeping together did not give him the right to poke his nose into her department, and he certainly didn't show her the respect that a xenobiologist of her stature deserved. She was good and pissed now. "Parker, the last thing I need is another trigger happy asshole out there! I'm out there to get them to trust us-" Parker stepped in at that point. "But after - how many years? - relations with the indigenous are only getting worse."

Grace was even more angry now. Parker wasn't HELPING the situation at all. It was no wonder they didn't trust the humans. "Yeah, that tends to happen when you use machine guns on them." She sneered.

She could also remember the first time she ever spoke to Jake, got inside his head at all.

"So you just figured you'd come out here to the most hostile environment known to man, with no training of any kind, and see how it went? What was going through your head?" Jake met her eyes with defiance. "Maybe I was just tired of doctors telling me what I couldn't do."

Grace was pulled out of her memories by a groggy Jake pulling himself from the machine, leg by leg. She swiveled around and realized she had been daydreaming about her memories for almost 2 hours. Jake wheeled himself over to her.

"Grace. We need to go see Parker. He wanted a report-" Grace cut him off.

"Fuck what Parker wants… let's go." She stood to move, when she noticed the look on Jake's face.

"What? I'm not the Parker Selfridge fan club, don't be so surprised." She said.

Jake shook his head, grinning. "I just can't believe there's trouble in paradise. "

Grace snorted and left through the door, leaving Jake to see his way out.

They approached Parker together, moving across the outside of the compound with confidence in their strides. Grace chose to ignore his stupid comments about that FUCKING putter.

She jumped right in, getting to the point quickly. "Jake is making incredible progress. But we need more time."

Parker looked at her, face unreadable. "Not what I was hoping to hear, on both accounts."

Jake looked confused as Grace shook her head.

"It's not about us Parker. It's about the lives you're threatening." She said forcefully. She was hoping Jake would just let it alone.

"Parker, its their home. they've been there for longer than we've been on Earth. You can spare a few more weeks." Grace was pleading with him.

Parker was beginning to soften, when he recalled their last conversation. "This thing is inevitable. What does it matter when it happens? I'm sorry, Dr. Augustine. You're out of time." He turned his back to her, swallowing his fear and heading inside as the rain began to fall.

"Dr. Augustine? What the hell happened between you two? I've never heard him call you that, ever-" Jake said, pondering the situation.

Grace just walked away, sat herself down in her bunk, and cried. A lot. When she thought there were no more tears, when she couldn't feel any more stress and pain than she already did, Jake made himself visible from the other side of the room.

He wheeled himself over to her, and put the brakes on his chair. He was here to stay. "What's up, Doc?"


	4. Chapter 4

*A/N: So, I rearranged a few things to have some of this make sense at least… I know it must be difficult to follow. I feel like it's a little rushed, because this was all a dream I have been having over the course of a few nights. I don't know quite how else to order it. But thanks for following, I'm pretty proud that I have more than one chapter up.*

As Grace was telling her story to Jake, she couldn't help but flash back to all the times she had felt for him. After the recent loss of her relationship with Parker, who could blame her for wondering?

Grace power walked to keep up with Jake and Norm as the headed for the lab. "Jake, I can't allow this. You're just not strong enough."

Jake reminded himself not to be offended. It was Grace's way of caring, and he knew she did. "It's the last door - I'm going through it. You can help me or get out of the way." Jake pushes past her toward the corridor

Grace gets upset at his brushing her off, and grabs his shoulder, effectively stopping him. "Will you listen to me? Sometimes the Na'vi themselves die in these vision quests. The venom takes you to the edge of death. And the psychoactive alkaloid in the worm- - we have no idea what that'll do in an avatar brain."

Jake breaks free and wheels away, down the corridor. A storm punctuates Grace's speech. Norm is initializing the Link. "Calibrating. Thirty seconds." She puts her hands on his shoulders. "No matter what you prove out there- you are still in here," She shakes him. "Right here. Remember that," She closes the link. It feels like closing a coffin. "Remember me.."

When Grace least expects it, she begins to remember. Parker. He had asked for one last report, before he began the mission. Because they had just reported Jake's need for more time, he was bound to begin fighting soon. With Quaritch involved, Grace knew that they would be well on their way.

"Jake, we need to get to Parker, we need one last chance to plead our case." Grace explained, pulling away from the closeness they were keeping. It felt wrong, but at the same time Grace knew it was impossible. Jake was Neytiri's now, and Grace had broken the rules of her "friends with benefits" situation with Parker and fallen in love. They got to the outer office as Parker was consorting with Quaritch. Grace was immediately angry. What right did some stupid jarhead have to destroy the lives of the Na'vi? She headed straight for Parker, hoping to have an in with him even though they were not together.

"Parker, listen, there may still be time to - "The jarhead bastard swiveled around with anger, directed at her.

"Shut your fucking hole!" Grace was momentarily stunned. But Grace Augustine never let anyone tell her what to do, especially if she didn't respect them.

"Or what, Ranger Rick? You gonna shoot me? You need to muzzle your dog!" Parker was visibly afraid.** "**Can we just take this down a couple notches, please." Despite his callous attitude, Grace knew he was being a coward, as usual.

"Parker, stop being afraid and listen to me. There's so much that I've learned, and you can't just ignore-" Quaritch took this moment to intervene. Unfortunately, he took steps to physically restrain Grace. As she had with Parker years ago, she reacted violently.

"Don't fucking touch me, you jar headed piece of shit!" Quaritch responded by restraining her harder, until Parker came to her rescue. As much as Grace didn't want to admit it, Parker obviously had developed feelings for her and still has them. Great, another point for her to wonder about when she was looking over the regrets of her life. Parker looked her in the eyes and for a split second, she saw the old Parker, the one she fell in love with. He suddenly disappeared and was replaced with Selfridge the hardass manager.

"Let her talk, let them all explain." He said quietly. He didn't let go of her wrists. "Alright, look - I don't have the answers yet, I'm just now starting to even frame the questions. What we think we know - is that there's some kind of electrochemical communication between the roots of the trees. Like the synapses between neurons. Each tree has ten to the fourth connections to the trees around it, and there are ten to the twelfth trees on Pandora-"

Parker interrupted her. "That's a lot I'm guessing. "

Grace scoffed. "That's more connections than the human brain. You get it? It's a network - a global network. And the Na'vi can access it - they can upload and download data - memories - at sites like the one you destroyed."

Even though a flash of the old Parker appeared in his eyes, and his trusting nature tried to make him believe her, stand up for her against Quaritch, it was too much. Selfridge returned. Grace saw it a half-second before everyone else heard, and she sighed. "What the hell have you people been smoking out there? They're just. Goddamn. Trees." Parker said. Grace tried to force the old Parker out of Selfridge. "You need to wake up, Parker. The wealth of this world isn't in the ground - it's all around us. The Na'vi know that, and they're fighting to defend it. If you want to share this world with them, you need to understand them."

Grace couldn't help but wonder if he would have believed them, if they were still together. It was a horrible thought. She pulled him away from Jake, away from Quaritch. They were alone in the corner of the lab, and Parker looked as if he wanted nothing more but to hold her and tell her it would all be okay. The flash in his eyes disappeared when he saw Quaritch behind her, shaking his head.

"Parker, we have to talk, like rational people." It pained him to say it, but he had to do this to her. His Grace was going to hate him.

"Well, I'd cherish that, but unfortunately you're out of here on the next shuttle. All of you. I'm shutting down the Avatar Program, effective now. "

He turned away from her, so he wouldn't see her tears. But partly so she wouldn't see his.

He began to flip switches, activate machines, and microphones. Grace was feeling physical pain over the loss of her only chance, and she shook her head to keep her emotions from playing with her logic.

"Parker, wait. Stop! These are people you're about to -" Parker was having trouble keeping this up. Was his job truly worth losing her, hurting her this way? He had to strengthen his resolve, fast.

"They're fly-bitten savages who live in a tree! Look around - I don't know about you but I see a lot of trees. They can move." His tone held a venom he didn't recognize. Quaritch nodded his head with approval.

"For God's sake, there are children in there. Babies!" Parker refused to listen to her, instead holding her at bay while they took Jake and Norm away. Parker almost died to think of how she would react when he spoke his next sentence.

"I need you to understand. There is nothing you can do to help them. But you can help yourself. Sit down, in my office. Stay until we're done here. I can promise you that I will be here when you come back."

Grace was disgusted. What had she been thinking, falling in love with this man.

"I'm not staying, and I cannot believe you even proposed an idea like that. It's not about you anymore, Selfridge."

She walked away, and guards quickly took her to the holding cell they had escorted

the men to.

"Selfridge? What happened to Parker?" Quaritch questioned. Parker, to himself, mumbled, "I wish she would just run off with her aliens and get out of my head." Parker turned to the window. Was it really worth it? Was everything worth losing her?

*So here's the problem. I see two ways this could go.

1. I could have Parker change his mind, allow them out, remove the military presence from the Na'vi land, and pack it up and move on, blah blah blah.

2. It could go on as the movie planned.

I really, really, really, REALLY want to find a way to keep Grace alive. Although I was wrong, and this probably won't end up ultimately Jake/Grace. My muse misinforms me. I actually don't see myself killing her off. I do see killing Norm, Jake, Max, Neytiri, etc.

Basically, I'm the writer and I'm keeping my favorites.(Grace and Parker) =D Quaritch is dying anyway, no matter what. I have half a mind to throw him off a Pandoran cliff with no rebreather unit. Prick.

If anyone has any suggestions as to who else should die, I'm open to it.

Or if you think no one should.

I have another, kind of strange idea, that I'm not sure if I should work in or not. Message me if you want to hear it.


	5. Chapter 5

Grace was pissed, alone scare, tired of being locked up, and STILL in love with Parker. She was furious, and everyone knew it. The strong, scary Grace was coming out, and Jake and Norm were kind of terrified.

"God damn it all. I knew this was wrong, I knew it felt wrong. I let Parker fucking micromanage my whole project, I let my emotions take over, and it's going to cost all of these people their lives." Grace's fury was incredible, aimed towards everyone. "Selfridge and his stupid fucking men, they didn't give a shit about these people. I never should have trusted him."

"Or slept with him." Jake said. She whirled around on him.

"And you! What were you thinking, joining in with Quaritch and his lackeys. I can't believe it, I even showed the whole layout of the Tree of Souls and how to fucking get there, I can't understand why I trusted you-"

Jake was the one getting angry now, pacing back and forth. However, his anger was quieter and more reserved than Grace's fury. "You think I'm not upset? That I didn't get my own chance to warn them? The woman I'm mated with for the rest of my life is in that tree, and there's nothing I can do about it."

Norm was just sitting, watching the two stare each other down, when he saw Trudy roll through the door with a cart. The only word Norm caught was "steak," and then the officer was on the floor, with a gun to the back of his head. She called in Max, who opened the door and began to rush them to the airlock. When Norm and Trudy ran ahead, Jake pulled Max aside.

"Stay here. I need someone I can trust on the inside." Max nodded and got himself back to his desk. He watched as the camera trained on Norm and Trudy, and then Jake and Grace as Grace lifted Jake's chair into the craft.

Quaritch caught wind of this and immediately kicked open the door in a psychotic rage. He used a machine gun to rip holes into the ship, the sounds of bullets ricocheting off of metal assaulting their ears. As they flew away towards site 26, Jake happened to look back. Grace was bleeding, and he could see it was a bad wound. He felt a sharp pain in his heart and swung around to help her.

"Trudy! Grace was hit! We have to go back!" He turned to Norm, who was panicking. "Get the trauma kit. We gotta patch her up." Norm rustled around for the trauma kit, but Grace knew it was a lost cause.

"Come on, Marine. It's like putting a band aid and Neosporin on… well, a gunshot wound." She sounded calm and normal, but Jake could see into her pain filled eyes. Trudy was turning the ship around, pulling them back towards the dock. Jake was working furiously in his head to think of a plan, some way to get past Quaritch to Parker. He would not let Grace die, not like this. As they landed, Trudy pulled her gun from her waistband and guarded a shaking Grace as Norm lifted her. Jake pulled his legs into his chair and followed the group.

Quaritch was already buckled into another ship as he saw them headed back to Parker's office. He knew he couldn't let them get to Parker, it would discredit him enough to make the entire mission a moot point. He was sprinting towards the group when Jake suddenly turned with a gun, pointed at his chest.

"Don't even try it. You shot at her, this is your fault. I should shoot you right now." Quaritch's face turned to a sneer.

"Well, it looks like someone went soft. What, do you actually like her now? I remember you bitching about her nagging you, and now you want to defend her honor? I'm shocked, Private." Parker was sitting in his office, not believing Grace was gone, praying she was okay, hoping she would come back.

His heart nearly stopped as he saw Norm carry her in. There was blood everywhere, and she looked pale and sick. He pressed the 911 button on his phone, and then rushed over to the spot where Norm had laid her. He fell to his knees and pulled his own light blue shirt from her. What he found underneath it was a mess of blood. It was everywhere, and Parker couldn't find where it was coming from.

"Here." Grace reached her hand up to his, and placed it over the gunshot wound. He could see the bullet. Parker made a quick decision, and had the other men hold her down. He whispered to her, "Forgive me." and held his breath.

He removed the bullet from it's superficial attachment to her muscle tissue, thankfully it had not gone any further or punctured any organs. Grace's screams were muffled by her refusal to show any weakness. It wasn't suiting her well. Parker wanted to hear her say something, anything, and she only kept deathly silent. He would have done anything to take back everything he had said to her. She looked up at him, made eye contact until he began to feel uncomfortable. Parker kept applying pressure, disinfectant, and calling for a medic. Norm, Jake, and Trudy all stood around them, watching in amazement as Parker saved Grace's life.

"How many times have we seen them almost kill each other, and this is happening?" Trudy whispered to Norm. He took her hand and tried to blink away tears. Grace took Parker's hand and stopped him.

"I always held back with you, when you gave me your heart. I won't make that mistake anymore." The truly feminine side of Grace was taking over, and it wasn't a good sign. She began to feel weak and closed her eyes. The medics rushed in and prepped her for stitches, trying to stop the bleeding. After several long, agonizing minutes, she was stabilized, lifted to a stretcher, and moved to the sick bay. Parker abandoned his bloodstained office, afraid of physically killing Quaritch. Instead, he sat by Grace's bedside and told her stories. They were mostly the little moments that he remembered from them being in love.

Grace had been working non-stop, for weeks. Twenty four hours in a day and Grace spent sixteen of them staring at lab samples. Even she was beginning to get tired of it. Parker was sitting in his office at his desk, doing paperwork. Curiously, the unobtainium was no where to be seen. Grace was coming from her link machine, grinning ear to ear and unable to keep herself from almost running to Parker's office. "Park! Where are you? You wouldn't believe what just happened-" She looked into his office, but found him slumped over in his chair. Flashbacks of the previous Head of Operations and how he had killed himself assaulted her mind. She kneeled at his chair and tried to wake him.

"Park.. Baby? Wake up, come on…" The fear in Grace's voice spurred Parker to start quickly, and then lift his head from the desk. "I don't… Grace?" She threw her arms around him and tried to hide her tears. "Oh my god, I thought the pressure had gotten to you and you took something, or had a heart attack, or something terrible!" He pulled her into his lap on the chair and frowned. "Why would I want to do something like that, when there's so much for me to lose sitting right in my lap?" Grace smiled, her eyes brightened. Her tears began to slow, and finally stopped. "I'm just glad everything is okay…" Parker stood up, intent on carrying Grace to his bed. "Come on sweetheart, it's been days since you had a good night's sleep." She looked at him shyly. "Or just a good night." She giggled and followed him to bed.

There was obviously no question, Parker and Grace had broken the rules of their original agreement and fallen in love. The question was, where was it going to go from here?

*Uh-oh. I don't like where this is going. So, I ran out of actual movie references to use. It's all me now, kiddoes. We'll see how this turns out. Reviews are like adderall to me, they will instantly stimulate my creativity. Long ones are the best… feel free to include any ideas you want to see, if you hate a certain thing I did, or whatever. Oh, and in Chapter 3, the "unimaginable bastard" part was a Titanic reference. If I hadn't wanted to use that line, I would have picked a more Grace-like insult.*


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